Barry Bonds Tries to Meet Big Expectations

The major leagues are a dream to most youngsters. To Barry Bonds, anything shy of the big leagues would have been a disappointment.

Many kids learn to play by tossing a ball in the backyard with grandpa. Barry Bonds threw in Candlestick Park with Juan Marichal, got hitting tips from Willie McCovey, took batting practice with his godfather, a guy named Willie Mays.

It’s different when you’re the son of a star like Bobby Bonds. People anticipate more and tolerate less, although the success rate for sons of famous players is not spectacular.

Remember Roberto Clemente Jr.? Mickey Mantle Jr.?

“There’s only a small percentage of us, but the little percentage that there is, you’re expected to be like your father ... or better,” said Barry Bonds, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ left fielder. “You try to go in there and make your own mark. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t.”

When Bonds when a kid -- and since he’s 23, it wasn’t that long ago -- he thought he’d be a ballplayer because every adult he knew was. He didn’t know his dad and Mr. Marichal and Mr. Mays were idols in the eyes of others.

“When you’re a kid you don’t ever think about those things, you don’t ever notice them,” he said. “You don’t really know who those people are until you start growing up and realizing what they do. And when I was little, I probably only watched about 10 games because I was roaming around the ballpark.

“To me, being a ballplayer just happened. None of us wanted to be a ballplayer just because of our fathers. It was just something we did when we were young, because we were always around it and when you get a head start like that it helps.

“But if you have a kid and start playing baseball with him when he’s young and then he becomes a ballplayer because he got an early start, it’s no different.”

Bonds, the Pirates’ No. 1 choice in the June 1985 free agent draft, made it to the majors with less than a year’s minor league experience. Last season, flashing that combination of both speed and power that personified his father, he hit 25 home runs and stole 32 bases despite usually batting leadoff.

Now, the expectations are even greater. The Pirates, fourth a year ago in the National League East, are expected to be much better and so is Bonds.

“I’d never hit more than 16 homers in a season until last year, now everybody is saying I should be a 30-30 guy” and hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases, Bonds said. “But I don’t have a big power hitter in front of me or one behind me so it’s a little bit different.

“Basically, I’m a No. 3 hitter or a No. 5 hitter, a free swinger who likes to take his hacks, but I have to bat leadoff because we basically don’t have a leadoff hitter. I’m not a person who is going to beat the ball into the ground all day.

“I’ve always been a streaky hitter and a leadoff hitter is supposed to be consistent. When I hit home runs, I hit a bunch of them and when I’m in a slump, I’m going to be in a slump.”

Some scouts say Bonds has yet to scratch the surface of his potential because he has been content to coast along on his abundant natural abilities, that the only thing keeping him from superstardom is his inability to motivate himself to be more than just good.

Bonds said it’s not always as easy as it looks.

“It’s tougher here,” he said. “You’re scouted 24 hours a day. The veterans who have been here awhile find a weakness, and you’re young and naive and don’t really realize you have a weakness. Then when you finally do, you try to compensate for it and that gets you down even further.

“This year I have more confidence than I had last year, I’m just starting to realize the things I’m doing wrong.”

Bonds is also trying to shrug off the image he is moody and self-centered one day, charming and articulate the next. He asks only that reporters and fans remember he is young and still maturing.